


Life, the Universe, You Know the Drill

by Quillori



Category: Nested (Browser Game)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-23
Updated: 2013-12-25
Packaged: 2018-01-05 18:56:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 56
Words: 1,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quillori/pseuds/Quillori
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Of course AO3 can be used to simulate the multiverse. Why do you ask?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dizmo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizmo/gifts).



This must be viewed in Chapter by Chapter mode. [Click](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208164) to navigate (and try to avoid going to hell).


	2. Chapter 2

The filaments of galactic superclusters weave their bright net across the immense void of space, the empty, eternal darkness lit by the distant pinpoints of their lights. Within each cluster, a horde of galaxies, uncountable, beyond comprehension, each vast stretch made small by comparison to the supercluster, itself no more than a single string of feebly glimmering flickers among uncounted others. Deeper still and you come to a single galaxy, a solitary prick of light that becomes on [approach](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208189) [a](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208281) [myriad](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208337) [of](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208510) [stars](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208402) and [smudgy](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208413) [nebulae](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208419) in swirling arms around [the glowing core](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208424) [of falling](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208436), [burning stars](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208448).


	3. 1-2a

Black, black and more black, a darker darkness than sleep or death, and cold, so cold that motion itself seems to freeze. An eternal waste of emptiness, the one true desert, than which hell itself[ is a pleasant dream.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208177)


	4. sleep

Sleep and death alike are dark, but if the one has dreams, may the other not as well? And there are [worlds and worlds across all creation](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208164) through which the sleeping dead may wander. 


	5. 1-2b

[A gas giant, swirling with red and purple storms](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208197) [and two telluric](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208210) [planets](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208221) [orbit a young star](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208231).


	6. gasgiant1

Deep within the tempest-swept heart of the planet, within the atmosphere that boils and twists, at a greater scale than even the protons and neutrons, within the quarks themselves, [another universe opens out.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2213771)


	7. 1-2b-3b

The peaceful planet Anatathea wheels round its warm sun. The sea washes the rocky shores with lapping, purple waves; the frozen icecaps tower in massive sculptures, etched by the icy wind. There is no sound but the wind and the sea, no odor but the mineral smell of the rock. Life stirs only deep within the ocean depths, young life, new and innocent and barely conscious, unaware that it bears within itself, within the most fundamental things of which it is made, [other universes](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208164).


	8. hell

The consuming flames wax hot, the air is sick with an acrid smoke that burns the eye, the screams of the damned fill the ear, and there is no escape.


	9. 1-2b-3c

The waiting planet of Semforessa is silent and still, orbiting such that its barren surface [faces always on one side its sun](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208231), on the other [the darkness of space](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208172).


	10. star1

Deep within the matter of the star, within the hydrogen and helium, at a greater scale than even the protons and neutrons, within the quarks themselves, [another universe opens out](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208164).


	11. 2

The filaments of galactic superclusters weave their bright net across the immense void of space, the empty, eternal darkness lit by the distant pinpoints of their lights. Within each cluster, a horde of galaxies, uncountable, beyond comprehension, each vast stretch made small by comparison to the supercluster, itself no more than a single string of feebly glimmering flickers among uncounted others. Deeper still and you come to a single galaxy, a solitary prick of light that becomes on [approach](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208471) [a](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208483) [myriad](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208489) [of](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208510) [stars](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208526) and [smudgy](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208413) [nebulae](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208419) in swirling arms around [the glowing core](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208424) [of falling](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208436), [burning stars](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208448).


	12. 1-2c-3b

The beautiful planet of Menateth wheels in stately arcs, its grey stones forming a cathedral of canyons and spires, rising above sweeping dunes of silver dust. Yet even that dust bears within itself [other universes](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208256).


	13. gasgiant2

Deep within the tempest-swept heart of the planet, within the atmosphere that boils and twists, at a greater scale than even the protons and neutrons, within the quarks themselves, [another universe opens out](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208256).


	14. 1-2c-3b

[A gas giant, violet blue and arched around with rings](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208273), [ and a telluric planet](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208267) [orbit a triple star](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208231).


	15. gasgiant3

Trapped in the heart of the gas giant, a [demon](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208214) struggles and screams, beating its great bat wings in vain.


	16. star2

Deep within the matter of the star, within the hydrogen and helium, at a greater scale than even the protons and neutrons, within the quarks themselves, [another universe opens out.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208256)


	17. asteroid1

Deep within the icy asteroids, within their very matter, at a greater scale than even the protons and neutrons, within the quarks themselves, [another universe opens out.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208164)


	18. Chapter 18

[An asteroid belt](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208308) [and two gas](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208197) [giants](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208293) [orbit a dying star](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208298).


	19. 1-2d

[An asteroid belt](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208308) [and two gas](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208197) [giants](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208273) [orbit a dying star](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208298).


	20. star3

Deep within the matter of the star, within the hydrogen and helium, at a greater scale than even the protons and neutrons, within the quarks themselves, [another universe opens out](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208346).


	21. firmament

The fixed firmament stands immovable, the constellations pinned forever in place. Within it turn the spheres of the planets, the sun, the moon, and in the centre the earth, [which contains everything within itself](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208164).


	22. gabored

The pleasant planet Gabored, with its orchards of luscious fruits, and its springs of sweet water, is home to a thousand singing birds, dun and brown and sandy and plain to the eye, but trilling and cooing with [the joys of paradise](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208346).


	23. 1-2e-3b

The planet of Resgeroth is planet of swamps and mires, quicksand and bogs, from which there is no escape but to sink down into the smothering depths. Yet even the cloying, clogging dirt that sucks you down is made up, deep within its structure, of [a universe of universes](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208164). 


	24. yamerty

There is nothing interesting to be said of the planet Yamerty, forever fated to be nothing more than the boring companion of its more [interesting](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208357) [siblings](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208362).


	25. 1-2e

[Three](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208357) [telluric](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208362) [planets](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208368) orbit a [twin star](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208345).


	26. asteroid 2

Deep within the icy asteroids, within their very matter, at a greater scale than even the protons and neutrons, within the quarks themselves, [another universe opens out](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208256).


	27. 1-2f

[Two asteroid](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208393) [belts](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208308) [orbit a blue star](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208298).


	28. 1-2g

Green and gold and opaline interstellar clouds swirl through [the vastness of space](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208172), glowing with beauty [between the stars](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208402).


	29. 1-2h

Dramatic red interstellar clouds glow [like the coals of hell against](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208214) [the blackness of space](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208172).


	30. 1-2i

At the hungry centre of the galaxy, a black hole swallows up the stars, the light, the life, the hope, insatiably gobbling everything up and yet remaining forever unfilled. But see! Within it you will find a white hole, [and another universe](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208256).


	31. 1-2j-3a

The mystical planet of Varsicon is wreathed in sacred mists, hiding its mysteries from impious eyes. No one has penetrated its depths, but its single moon is home to a species of lunar moth noted for its philosophical insight: the poetry of the lunar moths [encompasses universes](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208164).


	32. 1-2j

[A single telluric planet](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208650) [orbits a yellow star](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208231).


	33. 1-2k

[An asteroid belt](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208308), [sole remnant of warring interplanetary civilizations](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208214), [orbits a pale star](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208298).


	34. 2-2b-3b

The golden planet of Penthesalla, bathed in the dreadful light of its sun, is none the less beautiful, with a hundred thousand shades and tints of gold. The people, however, think of nothing, and walk blank faced and silent, never dreaming of [the infinity of the universe they occupy](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208164).


	35. 2-2b-3b

[A gas giant, swirling with orange storms](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2213692) [and a telluric planet](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208461) [orbit a horrifying star](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208345).


	36. 2-2c

[A gas giant, ringed round with little moons](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208273), [orbits a dark star](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208231).


	37. 2-2d

[An asteroid belt](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208393) [orbits a young star](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208231).


	38. 2-2e-3a

The bare, meteor scarred planet of Tregonthe is nonetheless teeming with life, hidden in cracks and crevices, spreading in a network of lichens and fungi throughout the soil, and in the underground caverns making glowing, phosphorescent nets, that resemble [a universe of their own](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208164).


	39. 2-2e-3b

The fiery planet of Entrega burns by day and by nights. Volcanoes spew forth an inescapable tide of molten lava, so that the rocks themselves melt and burn. The faint lights from its sun is drowned out by [the fiery glow](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208589).


	40. 2-2e

[Two](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208495) [telluric planets](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208501) [orbit a blue star](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208231).


	41. 2-2f

[Two asteroid](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208393) [belts](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2213597) [orbit a dead star](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208345).


	42. 2-2e-3b-4a

And Sutr, the black god, covers the world in fire, destroying everything, from which great conflagration [a new world arises](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208256), nourished by the morning dew.


	43. 2-2j

The storm-wracked surface of Mergula is constantly shifting, the all-powerful winds lifting and reshaping the ground into infinite configurations, maze-like and unreliable. But deep beneath the oceans, the domed cities are a wonder to all who see them, their nacred curves gleaming opalescent, the surrounding water dyed with their iridescence. Within their shelter, the crab-like inhabitants scuttle to and fro, untroubled by the vast weight of ocean above. Away from the domes, strange fishes loom from the dark water, all gaping, sharp-toothed mouths and strange protuberances. In the deepest undersea crevasses huge, tentacled creatures, kraken-like and pallid, twist in the ooze, [dreaming strange dreams](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208177).


	44. ast1-b-a

Everything is winding down and darkness spreads, the last stars winking out and the deadening cold sinking deep into the bones of the universe. Here and there a world remains, frozen in lifeless perfection, a work of art that none will see. Elsewhere, [in other worlds](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208164%0A%20), there is life and heat, but here only the bitter cold.


	45. ast1-b

Their thoughts are full of [loss and emptiness](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208172), these builder ants, an aching longing to see their world as it will one day be, [ages after they themselves have passed away](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2213575).


	46. ast1-c

Over eons they will sculpt their home into new and twisting shapes, hitherto [undreamt of](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208172%20), and a wonder for the ages.


	47. ast1

[A myriad of creatures](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2213577%20), small as ants, march to and fro [across the surface](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208308), each carrying in its mandibles [a tiny grain](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2213585%20) chiseled from the [solid rock](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208393%20).


	48. ast3

Some of the asteroids are only [rock](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2213589), others a mix of [rock and ice.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208308)


	49. lava

Lava spills out across the land like honey, golden and slow, the nectar of the salamanders' gods: all smiths, these gods, Hephaestus and Weyland in one, forming [the totality of creation](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208164%20) in their fiery forges.


	50. lich

Strange lichens grow on the cooling rocks, feeding on sulphur. Little eyeless snakes slither amongst them, their flickering tongues tasting the acrid air. Their thoughts are of [fire](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208589), these salamanders, and of the beauty of [molten rock](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2213665%20).


	51. icemoon

Unfortunately, there are no oceans beneath the ice, and no life, although in only 10 million years or so, a space-faring race will colonize it, using nanotechnology to terraform it into a paradise. At the moment, however, it is as barren and desolate as [hell](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208214).


	52. moon

Really, these are extremely dull moons. Even the [gas giant](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208197) they orbit would be more interesting.


	53. moons

A family of moons orbit the orange giant: [some bare and battle-scarred from meteor strikes](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2213688%20), [one solid ice](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2213680%0A%20), [one with spouting volcanoes spewing plumes of sulphur](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2213673%20), many so small a single jump would free you from their gravity.


	54. 3

The filaments of galactic superclusters weave their bright net across the immense void of space, the empty, eternal darkness lit by the distant pinpoints of their lights. Within each cluster, a horde of galaxies, uncountable, beyond comprehension, each vast stretch made small by comparison to the supercluster, itself no more than a single string of feebly glimmering flickers among uncounted others. Deeper still and you come to a single galaxy, a solitary prick of light that becomes on [approach](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208281) [a](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208402) [myriad](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208510) [of](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208471) [stars](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208510) and [smudgy](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208413) [nebulae](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208419) in swirling arms around [the glowing core](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208424) [of falling](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2213819), [burning stars](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208526).


	55. pras

Prastelle is a planet of extremes: fiery hot one moment, engulfed in icy storms the next; ridged with towering mountains, and spread beneath them monotonous plains; parched deserts over half the land, and swamps and mires over much of the rest. For some reason, the people here excel at making pastries, and other complicated sweets. They have no interest in the overly dramatic contrasts that surround them, preferring to concentrate on the small, the precise, and the comprehensible. [The universe](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208256), it must be said, is neither small nor comprehensible.


	56. Chapter 56

[A single telluric planet](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2213803) [orbits a giant star](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1097474/chapters/2208231).


End file.
